About KOSMOS

In the summer of 2017, a group of actors and musicians in Denmark, directed by Maria Lexa, presented Kosmos, an outdoor performance featuring theatre, dance, comedy, masks, giant puppets, and live music. A great success in 2017, Kosmos will return in 2018. Produced in collaboration with FO-Aarhus, Kosmos hold rehearsals and performances in Aarhus, tours in other parts of Denmark and abroad. The group's presentation consists of a parade through town, followed by a choreographed 30 minute performance, which involves the audience interactively. Kosmos is performed free of charge for a broad audience of all ages and from all cultural backgrounds.


Shows and tour: Kosmos tours at theatres, festivals, community gatherings, educational institutions, refugee centers, and other events. Kosmos 2018 touring period is August-September. Special appearances can also be arranged outside the touring period. In a collaboration with the Women's Museum, Kosmos performed during Aarhus Festugen 2017 in Mathilde Fibigers Garden outside the Museum. Kosmos will perform again at Kvindemuseet during Aarhus Festuge 2018, from August 31 – September 9.


The performance: To achieve its unique dramatic quality, outdoor theatre must be clear, simple, and visually powerful. Kosmos features the art of the mask, which is a special branch of physical theatre. Likewise, the art of performing inside a 10 ft. tall moving puppet. The production's masks and puppets are artworks in themselves. Kosmos uses wooden masks, some handmade by mask carvers in Bali, others by Danish artist Kirsten Gitz-Johansen. The production's giant puppets are created by Maria Lexa. Kosmos is performed without words. It creates a universal language through physical expression, music, and vibrant visual imagery. The piece is an homage to Mother Earth, telling the story of the wee folk who honor her, a gang of unruly monkeys who create chaos around her, and Father Earth, whose visit brings about a return to harmony. Kosmos' underlying themes are nature's power, care for the environment, peace, motherhood, and relations between men and women.


For more information on Kosmos, see Kosmos Facebook page: www.facebook.com/KosmosMariaLexa
Contact: To book a guest performance of Kosmos, or to arrange an audition to be a performer in Kosmos, please contact:
Maria Lexa, artistic director, at: sunxmoon.lexa@gmail.com OR
Inge Strandby, production coordinator, at: isj@kundu.dk


Maria Lexa studied in Paris with master teacher Etienne Decroux. She began her professional career with Studio II at Odin Teatret in Holstebro, Denmark, and she co-founded Institutet för Scenkönst in Östersund, Sweden with theatre director Ingemar Lindh. From 1981, she toured Scandinavia and Europe with her solo performances L'Odyssée Illustrée and Kilden, working also as director, master teacher, and leader of her own theatre group. In 1990, in Aarhus, she founded Foreningen Freja. Under her leadership, Freja organized six international women's art and culture festivals. Since 2001 she has been the artistic leader of Sun & Moon Ensemble, a theatre organization in San Francisco, whose performances feature theatre, dance, comedy, masks, giant puppets, and live music. She regularly teaches theatre workshops in Denmark and in 2014 she directed the performance Medea, Medea, an original work, in collaboration with QuongaFest in Aarhus. In 2017-18, she directed Kosmos outdoor performance in Denmark, and in January, 2018 she directed “Magic of the Mask”, a collaboration with the Fanglao Dance Theatre in Vientiane, Laos.